Sunday, 2 March, 2014 - Pelham Bay Park, Bronx County, NY - mainly in a.m. hours -
I spent about an hour in the area near Turtle Cove, including in the woods at the edge of the golf driving range (still snowed-over), & eventually located 3 Red-headed Woodpeckers, two in near-full-adult plumage, and one not at all yet; these were all to the NE of the driving range, & the least-colorful was actually moving from north of there, across a roadway that leads to the Hutchinson R. Parkway entrances, settling just a short way north of that road. (the trail that parallels the e. edge of the driving range leads n. to that rd., if one doesn't turn right or left). The 2 brightly-plumaged Red- headeds were in the area just n., & just e., of the east edge of the driving range. None were heard vocalizing during the time I was in there. Also present in that area were Downy, Hairy, & Red-bellied Woodpeckers, as well as several Y.-s. Flickers, & a Yellow-bellied Sapsucker in not-too-bright plumage. A nice bonus sighting were a pair (or at least a bright male & a possible female, or younger male) of PURPLE FINCH, perhaps wintering around there, or just moving around now. (In contrast, I saw/heard very few American Goldfinch... but feeders may have drawn many away.) I'd advise anyone wanting to see the Red-headed Woodpeckers to choose a sunny day, as on an overcast day as this was they can be fairly sluggish, esp. in the cold. For waterbirds, the highlight (if a bird a quarter-mile off shore is), a RED-NECKED GREBE well off the SW side of the City Island bridge. (In other winters, that might've been the highlight of the day but as sightings, the woodpeckers won first prize from my views.) A fair number of Horned Grebes were about, also mostly a little far, as the innermost bay was at least partly filled with skims of thin ice. A few of the loons, esp. some Red-throateds, were in nice & close. The majority of Scaup (all Greater as far as I was willing to try) were fairly far off the n. side of City Island. A 'good' find were a pair (or anyhow, a male & female staying together) of Surf Scoter, on the glassy bay. One nice feature today, a combo of almost no wind in the a.m. & virtually zero heat-haze distortion. Additional water birds I thought of interest: a small group of coot in the bay near Bartow-Pell; I didn't recall seeing that sp. in that area, but either I've forgotten, or they may have been pushed out to there in the many weeks of freezes. One Great was the only Cormorant species seen; a Great Blue Heron in the Hutchinson River bay didn't look so hot & I would wonder if it is a nearby winter "survivor". I was able to scan thru the modest numbers of Goldeneye in view, all Commons. Four Hooded Mergansers were in & near Turtle Pond, just e. of the driving range & all of the 14 Green-winged Teal (and all of the N. American type) were there as well, along with some of the usuals. I found a pair of Wood Duck in the woods west of Split Rock golf course when I went in on quite snow-laden trails, & sought out Rusty Blackbirds: 4 of them were found, but I think it's very possible more might have been found had I persisted & made a full loop - not this time. (In the past I've found Rustys in there on a semi-regular basis in spring & fall but it can be very muddy, and it used to be a great place to pick up poison ivy too; probably still is for those esp. susceptible. Also, like so many other areas where sensitive wildlife finds a modest space to live, off-leash dogs & their owners are to be found.) Two Killdeer were sharing space with geese & ducks on a small island off the w. side of the huge parking lot; a few Ruddy Turnstones were on the n. side of Twin Island; a modest mix of sparrows & blackbirds (including a few singing Red-winged), the 1 Merlin & a couple of Red-tailed Hawks were discerned at the landfill, & just w. of it, and a lone Hermit Thrush in the brush a bit farther west. Monk Parakeets are set up in the same area, the sw ballfields out below Westchester Ave. A few of the small woodland birds were noted right at the Westchester Co. - NYC (Bronx Co.) line, at Shore Rd. as that's where homes, & bird-feeders, are again to be found. A number of areas I might've ventured into, I did not due to lingering snow or ice. I also may as well mention that I did NOT seek out any owls. Outside Pelham Bay park, I heard (but didn't visually locate) Common RAVEN not too far from the area they've been in; & along portions of Pelham Parkway, a goodly number of American Robins (200+) were mainly doing the usual spring robin maneuvers in the wide grassy (& not- overly snowed-over) edges and adjacent big yards. [One small note relating to another NYC area. & last weekend: a week ago, on a spin all around Randall's Island, in addition to birds that Ben Cacace noted there from yesterday, I'd seen & heard a few Fish Crow, in addition to a couple of American Crows. My look a week ago at a R.-n. Grebe was so distant, even I could not bring myself to add to my day-list. A focus that day was on looking over every goose, & there were over 2,000 that day, but all that I found were Canada & Atlantic Brant.] - - - - - - - Pelham Bay Park - Sun. March 2: Red-throated Loon (15+) Common Loon (5+) Horned Grebe (12+) RED-NECKED GREBE (1) Great Cormorant (1) Great Blue Heron (1) Merlin (1) Monk Parakeet (12+) Canada Goose (1,200+) Atlantic Brant (7) Mute Swan (38) Wood Duck (2) Gadwall (60+) American Wigeon (6) American Black Duck (200+) Mallard (many) Green-winged Teal (14) Greater Scaup (2,200+) Surf Scoter (2) Long-tailed Duck (25+) Bufflehead (150+) Common Goldeneye (45+) Hooded Merganser (4) Red-breasted Merganser (100+) Cooper's Hawk (1) Red-tailed Hawk American Coot (8) Killdeer (2) Ruddy Turnstone (5) Ring-billed Gull (many) Herring Gull (many) Great Black-backed Gull Rock Pigeon Mourning Dove (multiple) RED-HEADED WOODPECKER (3) Red-bellied Woodpecker (multiple) Yellow-bellied Sapsucker (1) Downy Woodpecker (several) Hairy Woodpecker (2) Yellow-shafted Flicker (4) Blue Jay (40+) American Crow (few) Black-capped Chickadee (few) Tufted Titmouse (few) White-breasted Nuthatch Hermit Thrush (1) American Robin (30+ in PBB) Northern Mockingbird (several) European Starling American Tree Sparrow (15+) Savannah Sparrow (2) 'Red' Fox Sparrow (3) Song Sparrow (30+) Swamp Sparrow (1) White-throated Sparrow (80+) Dark-eyed (Slate-colored) Junco (50+) Northern Cardinal (several) Red-winged Blackbird (12+) Rusty Blackbird (4) Common Grackle (150+) Purple Finch (2) House Finch (10+) American Goldfinch (few) House Sparrow good birding, Tom Fiore Manhattan -- NYSbirds-L List Info: http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NYSbirdsWELCOME http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NYSbirdsRULES http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NYSbirdsSubscribeConfigurationLeave.htm ARCHIVES: 1) http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]/maillist.html 2) http://www.surfbirds.com/birdingmail/Group/NYSBirds-L 3) http://birdingonthe.net/mailinglists/NYSB.html Please submit your observations to eBird: http://ebird.org/content/ebird/ --
